# Coal-runner (*Pterostichus melanarius*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/coal-runner  
Data as of: 2026-11-14

The coal-runner (Pterostichus melanarius) is a species in the family Carabidae, order Coleoptera. Recorded adults reach 1.9 cm in length. Source checklists list it for 29 countries, including Albania, Austria and Belarus.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | Not recorded |
| Length | 1.2 cm – 1.9 cm |
| Lifespan | Not recorded |
| Diet | Invertivore |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | human_modified |
| Young per litter or clutch | Not recorded |
| Active | Day and night (cathemeral) |
| Conservation status | Not recorded |
| Countries on record | 29 countries |

## Recorded prey and predators

Recorded prey: Bembidion lampros (*Bembidion lampros*), Javesella pellucida (*Javesella pellucida*), Oak spider (*Aculepeira ceropegia*), Gorse orbweaver (*Agalenatea redii*), Rumble-backed Sunshiner (*Amara eurynota*), Social sun beetle (*Amara familiaris*), Mesophile Sunshiner (*Amara lunicollis*), Amara montivaga (*Amara montivaga*), Amara ovata (*Amara ovata*), Narrow-dimpled Sunshiner (*Amara similata*), Amara quenseli (*Amara quenseli*), Amara plebeja (*Amara plebeja*). Recorded predators: Allagelena gracilens (*Allagelena gracilens*), Gorse orbweaver (*Agalenatea redii*), Carabus auratus (*Carabus auratus*), Cucumber green spider (*Araniella cucurbitina*), Granulated ground beetle (*Carabus granulatus*), Cricket bat spider (*Mangora acalypha*). Each pair is recorded by at least two datasets compiled by Global Biotic Interactions (https://www.globalbioticinteractions.org/, CC0 1.0).

## Introduced range

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists it as introduced in 2 countries. Introduced: Canada, United States. Source: https://griis.org/ (CC BY 4.0).

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Arthropoda
- class: Insecta
- order: Coleoptera
- family: Carabidae
- genus: Pterostichus
- species: *Pterostichus melanarius* (Illiger, 1798)

Synonyms: *Carabus melanarius*, *Carabus vulgaris*, *Feronia melanaria*, *Morphnosoma vulgare*, *Omaseidius melanarius*, *Omaseidius vulgaris*, *Omaseus melanarius*, *Platysma melanarium*, *Platysma vulgare*

## Countries on record

Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.

Albania, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine

## Common questions

### How big is the coal-runner?

An adult coal-runner measures 1.2 cm – 1.9 cm long, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

### Where does the coal-runner live?

Catalogue of Life checklists list the coal-runner for 29 countries, including Albania, Austria, Belarus, Belgium and Bulgaria. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.

### Is the coal-runner an invasive species?

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the coal-runner as introduced in 2 countries: Canada and United States, but does not flag it as invasive in any of them.

### What kind of animal is the coal-runner?

The coal-runner (Pterostichus melanarius) belongs to the family Carabidae in the order Coleoptera.

### What eats the coal-runner?

Animals recorded preying on the coal-runner include allagelena gracilens, gorse orbweaver, carabus auratus and cucumber green spider. The records are compiled by Global Biotic Interactions from published studies; each pair is reported by at least two datasets.

### Which animals does the coal-runner eat?

Animals recorded as prey of the coal-runner include bembidion lampros, javesella pellucida, oak spider and gorse orbweaver. The records are compiled by Global Biotic Interactions from published studies; each pair is reported by at least two datasets.

## Sources

- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Global Biotic Interactions (GloBI): interpreted data products](https://www.globalbioticinteractions.org/), CC0 1.0, 0.11. Poelen, J.H., Simons, J.D. & Mungall, C.J. (2014) Global Biotic Interactions: an open infrastructure to share and analyze species-interaction datasets. Ecological Informatics 24: 148–159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoinf.2014.08.005. Data: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22691479, with each record's original reference.
- [Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (GRIIS)](https://griis.org/), CC BY 4.0, 2026-11-13. Pagad, S., Genovesi, P., Carnevali, L., Schigel, D. & McGeoch, M.A. (2018) Introducing the Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species. Scientific Data 5: 170202. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2017.202. Country checklists published through GBIF by the IUCN SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group.
- [TraitCH: a multi-taxa functional trait dataset for Switzerland and Europe](https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15063844), CC BY 4.0, 2.0. Chauvier, Y., Adde, A., Bergamini, A. et al. (2025) TraitCH: a multi-taxa functional trait dataset for Switzerland and Europe. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15063844

Cite as: Coal-runner (Pterostichus melanarius). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/coal-runner